Top IGLs protest Astralis' alleged "exploitation of health issues" in open letter
HLTV received an open letter from FaZe captain Finn "karrigan" Andersen this morning after six out of eight in-game leaders attending the BLAST Premier Fall Final declined to participate in the media day held by the organizer on the eve of the first matches.
The protest revolves around BLAST's apparent decision to allow Alexander "br0" Bro to be substituted for Casper "cadiaN" Møller due to a medical emergency. Astralis claimed to BLAST that the young Dane was "unfit to play", which has been contested by br0's agent Fabian Broich in a post on X.
"As we represent br0, teams have reached out to me, regarding his health or medical condition, he is fully fine, obviously unfortunate he got benched. Nevertheless, Alex is fully healthy and ready to perform. So feel free to keep reaching out."
It was unclear at the time why his agent felt compelled to dispell rumors of the Dane suffering from some sort of illness, but it became clear following a report by HLTV that Astralis might have misled BLAST about the condition of the player.
BLAST has since come out and stated that they will be seeking further clarification from Astralis regarding the emergency substitution request. Seven captains attending the event have signed the public letter, which includes Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov who did participate in the media day.
The full letter is below:
There are two things we as IGLs want to address when it comes to Blast's decision regarding the allowance of Cadian to play for Astralis at Blast Fall Finals.
Firstly, integrity is at utmost importance. The roster lock rules are established for this very purpose. There have been 2 separate cases where coaches were forced to play for their respective teams: Heroic at Blast Fall Groups, and G2 at Blast Spring Finals. Emergency substitutes have previously been denied, and in this case, we believe that if br0 is in fact unfit to play, Astralis coach Ruggah would have to step in and play.
The results at Blast Fall Finals have a significant impact on the RMR Rankings, as well as a significant impact on the teams that are currently fighting for crucial points to qualify for Blast World Finals.
The second aspect we wish to address is our firm stance against the exploitation of mental health or physical health issues as a means to justify the allowance of an emergency substitute. We believe that such matters should never be taken lightly. In the event that a player faces an emergency in the future, it is essential to respect their privacy and extend our wishes for a speedy recovery to them.
We are not requesting evidence of br0’s situation, and we extend our best wishes and respect to him, if an emergency is indeed the case. As previously mentioned, rules are rules, and according to the precedent set by Blast stating that if no substitutes are added prior to the event, the coach would be the primary substitute.
Given the circumstances, we believe that Ruggah should serve as a substitute, and permitted to play, if he is in good health and fit to do so.
Finally, if Astralis were to receive a penalty or sanction, we advocate that any fine imposed should be going towards a mental health charity donation.
Sincerely,
karrigan, apex, snappi, aleksib, twistzz, snax, chopper
